swing state support, a news cbs news poll shows president obama holding a significant lead over mitt romney in three key states. >> road to the future. google paves the way for a car that can drive and park itself. >> i expect self-driving cars will be far more safer. >> immaculate misconception, nfl backs up a controversial decision made by the replacement officials but the call is raising questions about the referee lockout and becoming a campaign issue. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, september 26, 2012. good morning, everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. the race for the white house has taken a new turn. less than six weeks before the presidential election president obama is widening his lead over mitt romney.

it's estimated 237 are solidly behind president obama or leaning in his direction while 206 votes are in mitt romney's camp. cbs news quinnipiac university "new york times" poll said president obama has gained significant ground over mitt romney in ohio, pennsylvania and florida. we have more on this. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. both are scrambling for support in those potentially make-or-break states. today honing in on ohio. by bus or by plane for mitt romney and paul ryan this election could come down to one state. >> o.h. o.h.! works every time. >> reporter: ohio is one of the key swing states in this election and today romney and president obama will be battling for attention there, but the latest cbs news poll swing

states shows romney with some ground to make up. the poll just out this morning has president obama up 10 points in the buckeye state, he had a six point lead before the convention. >> ohio we tried what they are selling. it didn't work, we don't like it, we're not going back. >> reporter: the numbers are similar in florida where the president has a nine point lead over romney and in pennsylvania he's maintained a double digit advantage for a couple of months now. but it's ohio that's been the main focus of the campaign. with president obama and his republican rival each making his 14th trip to the state. >> here in ohio -- >> reporter: turn on the tv in ohio and this is what you're likely to see. both campaigns spent more here than any other state. president obama and his allies have spent nearly $48 million on ads in the state since may 1st. romney is not far behind. he and the super p.a.c.s supporting him have pumped in

nearly 43 million. >> how can people say they want four more years of president obama. we can't afford four more years of president obama. >> reporter: romney has been trying to make the case he'll do a better job with the economy but in all three states the polls shows president obama leading on that issue. >> the path i offer is harder but it leads to a better place. i'm asking you to choose that future. >> reporter: romney does lead in one category, voters in those same states say he would do a better job on the deficit. and both candidates will be appearing in the cleveland and toledo area today and romney will also be making a stop near columbus. >> it's on. thanks. two powerful bombs exploded in the syrian capital of damascus this morning. the explosion detonated minutes apart followed by gunfire. the attack was blamed on terrorists. damascus has been rocked by a

series of bombings in recent months as the uprising against president bashir al assad escalates. >> egypt's president is scheduled to address the u.n. general assembly. his remarks will be closely watched for signs of what direction egypt's new government may go. on tuesday president obama addressed the general assembly. he urged world leaders to reject extremism citing the murder of the u.s. ambassador in libya and three others. >> i would like to begin today by telling you about an american named chris stevens. >> reporter: the president told world leaders that the slain u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, had gone to benghazi to establish a cultural center and help modernize a hospital. >> today we must declare this violence and intolerance has no place. >> reporter: it's still unclear what motivated the terrorist attack but president obama focused on that anti-muslim video made in california explaining why the u.s. can't and won't ban a movie that mr. obama himself described as crude

and disgusting. >> i know that not all countries in this body share this particular understanding of the protection of free speech. we recognize that. but in 2012 at a time when anyone with a cell phone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button, the notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete. >> reporter: a lot has changed since this group of leaders met a year ago. egypt and tunisia have held free elections, libya's dictator, moammar gadhafi was deposed and killed. but the president argued those countries can't achieve democracy without embracing freedom of expression. >> as president of our country and commander-in-chief of our military i accept people will call me awful things every day. and i will always defend their right to do so. >> reporter: the president went

into great detail about everything the u.s. had done to promote democracy in the very countries where protests are now taking place outside u.s. embassies. >> mr. obama used his address to take aim at iran. >> the iranian government props up a dictator in damascus and supports terrorist groups abroad. time and again it has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful. >> iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad did not respond to mr. obama's remarks. he said he didn't want to influence the presidential election. tuesday he told the associated press a new world order needs to emerge from years of which he described as american bullying and domination. mahmoud ahmadinejad scheduled to address the general assembly this morning. you can see our interview a little later on cbs "this morning." cbs money watch now. budget protests in europe and airlines rack up those baggage fees. ashley morrison has more.

>> reporter: workers in greece went on a general strike today for the first time since the coalition government was formed three months ago. they are protesting $16 billion worth of upcoming spending cuts that will slash wages, pensions and welfare benefits but with the country on the brink of bankruptcy the greek government is expected to approve those unpopular cuts. and more austerity protests in madrid. thousands of demonstrators clashed with police. they are demanding constitutional reform as the government prepares a new round of austerity measures. protesters say it's depriving them of their rights and jobs. concerns over recovery weighed down overseas markets. nikkei sank 2% while hang sang lost 1%. stocks on wall street plunged after a federal reserve official raised doubts on whether the bank's effort to boost economic growth would work. the dow lost 101 points while

the nasdaq fell 43 points in the worse selloff in three months. investors may be uneasy in the market but americans say they are feeling more confident. the consumer confidence score leaped up nine points to 70. it's the highest level since february but 20 points below what's considered to be healthy. consumer spending drives 70% of the nation's economy. good news on the housing market. home prices kept their upward momentum in july in 20 major u.s. cities. on average the standard & poor kay schiller index report prices are up 1.2% thanks to more sales and fewer foreclosures. second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one. if you notice how expensive it's getting to fly. get a load of this. baggage fees are taking off with u.s. carriers hauling in more than $1.7 billion in just the first half of this year.

that's the most ever. delta collected the most, nearly $430 million. airlines first started charging for the first checked bag back in 2008. since then just about all the carriers have jumped on board. what are we going to do? >> i know. >> boycott flying? >> they charge for bags, window seats, leg room. they will start charge you to use the bathroom. >> i'll pay for that. >> good point. coming up on the morning news, smart cars get the green light. so-called driverless cars move another step closer to becoming reality in california. this is the morning news. e morning news. becoming reality in california. this is the morning news. [ white ] in my kitchen the heart of a great dish is a great tasting stock.

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the self-driving car. >> reporter: despite the notion he's an old retread, governor jerry brown arrived at google's headquarters in a self-driving car to accelerate california's leadership in self-driverless cars. google has lost 300,000 miles in this new technology. a new law allows driverless cars on the public roads as long as there's a licensed driver behind the wheel. it directs the dmv to adopt regulations. the governor signed the legislation in front of an audience of google employees. google co-founder was asked when the public might get their hands on this vehicle. >> i don't want to over promise right now. we have some pretty ambitious targets. you can see them stressing and looking at me. >> reporter: but he did say five years or less and he believes it will save lives. 99% of all traffic and fatal accidents are caused by human error. >> i expect driverless cars will be far safer. >> reporter: with cameras and

scanner laser it opens the possibility of the blind driving. cutting down on congestion as self driving cars line themselves up in precision and let drivers to do something else while driving. which brings up the question, who gets the ticket in a self-driving car if it parks itself and no one is inside and it runs a red light. >> the car, i would think. but we'll work that out. that's is going to be the easiest problem to work out. >> self-starting cars do not run red lights. >> reporter: the governor seemed to want to turn this bill signing into a celebration in what is right with california since recent news made it clear what's going wrong. >> in the midst of the flaws there's power of design and imagination to build the future and that's your legacy. >> law enforcement agencies such as the california highway patrol expressed skepticism of the technology.

understand be -- understandable. the governor says it's a work in progress. we'll take a quick break. when we come back we'll have your weather forecast and in sports more fallout from the controversial call that ended monday night's football game. this is the morning news. controversial call that ended monday night's football game. this is the morning news. [ male announcer ] fight pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath fast

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sun and clouds in los angeles, 80 degrees. let's check your national forecast. expect rain weather in many parts of the northeast. the nation's heartland and rocky mountain states. most of the south will stay dry. isolated thunderstorms are possible in florida. pacific northwest is also expected to stay dry but smoke from fires in that region will cause air quality problems. in sports this morning they are calling it the immaculate misconception. the controversial decision made by the nfl's replacement referees at the end of monday night's football game is the talk of the country. it's raising questions about the league's lockout of its regular officials and becoming a talking point on the presidential campaign trail. >> reporter: nfl says controversial ruling in monday night's seahawks/packers game will stand, replacement referees made the call in the last seconds of the football game when the seahawks receiver and the packers defender went after the same pass.

referees say seahawks caught the ball. but replays show a different story. >> touchdown. >> on tuesday the league admitted a penalty should have been called on the seattle player for pushing. but said the results of the game is final. >> it's different era. no question. >> reporter: regular refs have been locked out since june over a labor dispute with the league. the replace meth officials have little or no experience in the nfl. the one who made monday night's call had only ref'd high school and some college games. >> it takes a guy two full years to get acclimated to the speed of that game. >> reporter: this is a retired nfl referee. >> two of them should have conversed with each other before they made any signals. >> reporter: the controversial call got the attention of the republican and democratic tickets for the white house. >> it's terrible.

>> it is time to get the real refs. >> this latest pressure brought the league and the union back to the bargaining table. but so far, no deal. >> in baseball there's one less post-season spot available morning. it's a walkoff two-run blast over the center-field fence. braves beat the marlins 4-3. after last year, atlanta clinches a playoff berth. detroit meets the white sox. a run to center-field, top of the fourth kansas city threatening with two runners on but cabrera makes the grab at third. that will end the inning. sanchez on cruise control strikes out ten and goes the distance in a 2-0 shutout for detroit. when we come back late night campaigning, mitt romney's wife ann talks to jay leno about having a mormon in the white

house. about having a mormon in the white house. so, when i shop -- i earn twice as much with double extrabucks rewards. that's two times the rewards! yeah, that's what double is. i know. i was agreeing with you. it's two times. act fast and sign up at cvs.com/doublebucks for double quarterly extrabucks rewards. don't miss getting double quarterly extrabucks rewards. i love 'em!

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. afternoon thunderstorms in washington, 83 degrees. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. afternoon thunderstorms in washington, 83 degrees. atlanta 86. thunderstorms in st. louis 79 degrees. partly sunny in denver, 69. same deal in seattle at 72. a soldier based at ft. hood, texas accused of shooting another when he tried to stop the victim's pickup. patrick myers was charged with manslaughter on tuesday. he pointed the victim's gun at his head in order to frighten him and stop the pickup. he thought the gun had dummy rounds when it discharged. both men had been drinking at the time. construction of a monument dedicated to a confederate civil war general have been stopped among protest. some alabama council voted to halt work.

he was an early leader of the ku klux klan. there's a dispute whether the city or confederate heritage group owns the cemetery property where the monument will be built. mitt romney campaigns in ohio this week his wife spoke to a national audience last night. ann romney appeared on the "tonight show" with jay leno and asked about the possibility her husband could become the first mormon president in u.s. history. >> you know, i love the fact that we have the first african-american president. to me that means we're leaving prejudices behind. i would hope if mitt were elected we would see more of the same. >> mrs. romney said she told her husband in 2008 she didn't want her husband to run for president again. coming up the five things you need to know before you vacation solo, leave everybody at home. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news". brown. this is the "cbs morning news".

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the scottish fishing village of aberdeen is covered in foam. whipped up from the north sea, homes, cars, buildings, everything covered with a thin layer of fog. the foam is caused by a high volume of wave activity mixing together saltwater, air and organic material. i say turn on some music and go have a party. rain is expected to wash it away. for years the u.s. armed forces faced problems filling its ranks with eligible recruits. now a new report says part of the problem is childhood obesity. it's being called a potential threat to national security. >> reporter: the american obesity epidemic has hit the front lines. a report from a group called mission readiness says 25% of young americans are too fat to fight. >> even if they wanted to serve in the u.s. military service, they will not be able to do that because they are disqualified on

the basis of obesity. >> reporter: the group made up of more than 100 retired generals and admirals warned of the problem two years ago and said the problem hasn't improved. in a new report titled still too fat to fight. they want to start with kids. >> getting junk food out of our schools is critical to making sure the child obesity crisis doesn't become a national security crisis. >> reporter: the writers of this report want to see more cafeterias like this one in washington, d.c. where school officials tossed out vending machines in favor of healthier foods. the problem is reversible if healthier food choices are combined with more physical fitness in schools. >> definitely want to see, as students become more fit and eat healthier that they will be able to stay leaner in their childhood and then as they move into adulthood. >> reporter: the report says hundreds of recruits are annually discharged from the military because they are too heavy.

training those unfit recruits and finding a replacement cost taxpayers an extra $60 million every year. well after hearing that this might help curb the obesity crisis. a worldwide shortage of pork and bacon is expected for next year. the national pig association in britain said it has become too expensive for pig farmers to feed their animals so they have down sized their herds. pork prices in europe can double next year. love me some bacon. coming up after your local news. latest fallout in replacement referees in the nfl. we'll get reaction from the executive director of the nfl player's association. plus, the latest in the heated tablet wars. we'll speak with barnes and noble's ceo and dwight yocum stops by. that and more later on cbs "this morning." for now that will do it for this

wednesday. as always we appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown, have a great day. ,,,,